.vtt

What is a .vtt file?

VTT (WebVTT) is the W3C standard caption format for HTML5 video and web streaming.

Safe format
Type Video
By W3C
MIME text/vtt

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What is it

WebVTT is what the web standards community built when they realised SRT wasn't quite enough for modern streaming. It adds styling (CSS-based), positioning (top, bottom, left, right), voice identification, and chapter markers — all while remaining a plain text format you can edit in any text editor.

The format is required by the HTML5 `<track>` element, making it the native subtitle format for web video. YouTube, Vimeo, and most streaming platforms support VTT for caption uploads. It's also the standard for HLS and DASH adaptive streaming subtitle tracks.

For desktop video playback, SRT is still more universally supported — some older media players don't handle VTT. But on the web, VTT is the clear standard. Converting between SRT and VTT is trivial — the timestamp format differs slightly and VTT requires a `WEBVTT` header, but the content is essentially the same.

Technical details
Full Name
WebVTT Subtitle
MIME Type
text/vtt
Developer
W3C
Magic Bytes
N/A
Safety
.vtt is a known, safe format. Plain text file. Cannot contain executable code.
What opens it
Any web browser
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
VLC
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
Any text editor
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
FAQ
What's the difference between VTT and SRT?
VTT supports styling, positioning, and metadata that SRT doesn't. VTT is the web standard (required for HTML5 video). SRT is simpler and more widely supported by desktop media players.
How do I convert SRT to VTT?
Add `WEBVTT` as the first line, remove the sequence numbers, and change the timestamp separator from `,` to `.` (e.g., `00:01:23,456` becomes `00:01:23.456`). Many free online tools do this automatically.
Related formats